Spatial reuse signaling in the physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) service data units (PSDUS)

ABSTRACT

Embodiments for an access point (AP), station (STA) and method for communication are generally described herein. An access point (AP), configurable to operate in a basic service set (BSS), the apparatus comprising memory. The AP further comprising processing circuitry coupled to the memory. The processing circuitry configured to encode a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission to stations operable in the BSS. The PPDU may comprise a media access control (MAC) header portion. The processing circuitry may encode signaling in the MAC header portion of the PPDU that defines a spatial reuse restriction and the spatial reuse restriction may restrict spatial reuse by stations operating in a BSS that is different from the BSS of the AP. In an embodiment, processing circuitry coupled to the memory may encode the spatial reuse restriction in an HE-A control field of the MAC header portion.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/382,128, filed Dec. 16, 2016, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,201,037,which claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/291,697, filed on Feb. 5, 2016, each of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless networks and wireless communications.Some embodiments relate to wireless local area networks (WLANs) andWi-Fi networks including networks operating in accordance with the IEEE802.11 family of standards. Some embodiments relate to spatial reusesignaling in the physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) servicedata units (PSDUs).

BACKGROUND

Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network (WLAN)is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to theusers of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to sharethe same resources and some devices may be limited by the communicationprotocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wirelessdevices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacydevice protocols.

Thus, there are general needs for improved methods, apparatuses, andcomputer readable media for centralized channel access for primary andsecondary channels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 6 depicts frame transmissions illustrating a station not being ableto transmit due to an OBSS station transmission and CCA checking inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an intra-BSS station not transmitting due to CCAchecking in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an intra-BSS station not transmitting due to CCAchecking in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates the transmission opportunity illustrated in FIGS. 6-8without an interfering spatial reuse operation in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates spatial reuse control signaling in a different MACprotocol data unit (MPDU) in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates a format for a trigger frame in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates the format of an HE variant of high-throughput (HT)control in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates a control subfield of the HE variant HT controlfield in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 illustrates a control subfield format in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which anyone or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein mayperform; and

FIG. 16 illustrates a method in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100 in accordance withsome embodiments. Radio architecture 100 may include radio front-endmodule (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106 and basebandprocessing circuitry 108. Radio architecture 100 as shown includes bothWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT)functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In thisdisclosure, “WLAN” and “Wi-Fi” are used interchangeably.

FEM circuitry 104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 104 a and aBluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 104 b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 104 a mayinclude a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operateon WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplifythe received signals and to provide the amplified versions of thereceived signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 106 a for furtherprocessing. The BT FEM circuitry 104 b may include a receive signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signalsreceived from one or more antennas 102, to amplify the received signalsand to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BTradio IC circuitry 106 b for further processing. FEM circuitry 104 a mayalso include a transmit signal path which may include circuitryconfigured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry106 a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 101. Inaddition, FEM circuitry 104 b may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided bythe radio IC circuitry 106 b for wireless transmission by the one ormore antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although FEM 104 a and FEM104 b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are notso limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown)that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BTsignals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least someof the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths forboth WLAN and BT signals.

Radio IC circuitry 106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 106a and BT radio IC circuitry 106 b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 106 a mayinclude a receive signal path which may include circuitry todown-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104 a andprovide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 a. BTradio IC circuitry 106 b may in turn include a receive signal path whichmay include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 104 b and provide baseband signals to BT basebandprocessing circuitry 108 b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 106 a may alsoinclude a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convertWLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry108 a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104 a forsubsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BTradio IC circuitry 106 b may also include a transmit signal path whichmay include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by theBT baseband processing circuitry 108 b and provide BT RF output signalsto the FEM circuitry 104 b for subsequent wireless transmission by theone or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although radio ICcircuitries 106 a and 106 b are shown as being distinct from oneanother, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scopethe use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmitsignal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals,or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some ofthe radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths forboth WLAN and BT signals.

Baseband processing circuitry 108 may include a WLAN baseband processingcircuitry 108 a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 108 b. The WLANbaseband processing circuitry 108 a may include a memory, such as, forexample, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform or Inverse FastFourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processingcircuitry 108 a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 108 a and the BTbaseband circuitry 108 b may further include one or more processors andcontrol logic to process the signals received from the correspondingWLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106, and toalso generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmitsignal path of the radio IC circuitry 106. Each of the basebandprocessing circuitries 108 a and 108 b may further include physicallayer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and mayfurther interface with application processor 110 for generation andprocessing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of theradio IC circuitry 106.

Referring still to FIG. 1, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BTcoexistence circuitry 113 may include logic providing an interfacebetween the WLAN baseband circuitry 108 a and the BT baseband circuitry108 b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Inaddition, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry104 a and the BT FEM circuitry 104 b to allow switching between the WLANand BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although theantennas 101 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLANFEM circuitry 104 a and the BT FEM circuitry 104 b, embodiments includewithin their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between theWLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected toeach of FEM 104 a or 104 b.

In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 104, the radio ICcircuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided ona single radio card, such as wireless radio card 102. In some otherembodiments, the one or more antennas 101, the FEM circuitry 104 and theradio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In someother embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 106 and the basebandprocessing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single chip or integratedcircuit (IC), such as IC 112.

In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 102 may include a WLANradio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some ofthese embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured toreceive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) ororthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communicationsignals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMAsignals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 100 may bepart of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wireless accesspoint (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device.In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 100 may be configuredto transmit and receive signals in accordance with specificcommunication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including,802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, 802.11n-2009, 802.11 ac, and/or 802.11axstandards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 100may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications inaccordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured forhigh-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with theIEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 100may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configuredto transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more othermodulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., directsequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequencyhopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-divisionmultiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing(FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limitedin this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 1, the BT basebandcircuitry 108 b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivitystandard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any otheriteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BTfunctionality as shown for example in FIG. 1, the radio architecture 100may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented(SCO) link and or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of theembodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 100 maybe configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BTcommunications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BTfunctionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in aBT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments,as shown in FIG. 1, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio cardmay be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wirelessradio card 102, although embodiments are not so limited, and includewithin their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 100 may include other radiocards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 3GPPsuch as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may beconfigured for communication over various channel bandwidths includingbandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz,and bandwidths of about 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 8 MHz, 10MHz, 16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or80+80 MHz (160 MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In someembodiments, a 320 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of theembodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencieshowever.

FIG. 2 illustrates FEM circuitry 200 in accordance with someembodiments. The FEM circuitry 200 is one example of circuitry that maybe suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 104 a/104 b(FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 200 may include a TX/RX switch202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include alow-noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify received RF signals 203 andprovide the amplified received RF signals 207 as an output (e.g., to theradio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1)). The transmit signal path of thecircuitry 200 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RFsignals 209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 106), and one ormore filters 212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters(LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 215 forsubsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG.1)).

In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry200 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequencyspectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, thereceive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a receivesignal path duplexer 204 to separate the signals from each spectrum aswell as provide a separate LNA 206 for each spectrum as shown. In theseembodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may alsoinclude a power amplifier 210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, a LPF oranother type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signalpath duplexer 214 to provide the signals of one of the differentspectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by theone or more of the antennas 101 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, BTcommunications may utilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize thesame FEM circuitry 200 as the one used for WLAN communications.

FIG. 3 illustrates radio IC circuitry 300 in accordance with someembodiments. The radio IC circuitry 300 is one example of circuitry thatmay be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 106 a/106 b(FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 may include a receivesignal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of theradio IC circuitry 300 may include at least mixer circuitry 302, suchas, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry306 and filter circuitry 308. The transmit signal path of the radio ICcircuitry 300 may include at least filter circuitry 312 and mixercircuitry 314, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry.Radio IC circuitry 300 may also include synthesizer circuitry 304 forsynthesizing a frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuitry 302 and themixer circuitry 314. The mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 may each,according to some embodiments, be configured to provide directconversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a muchsimpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixercircuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may bealleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. FIG. 3illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and mayinclude, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depictedcircuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixercircuitry 320 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filtercircuitries 308 and/or 312 may each include one or more filters, such asone or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. Forexample, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, theymay each include two or more mixers.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may be configured todown-convert RF signals 207 received from the FEM circuitry 104 (FIG. 1)based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuitry304. The amplifier circuitry 306 may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 308 may include a LPFconfigured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals togenerate output baseband signals 307. Output baseband signals 307 may beprovided to the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) for furtherprocessing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 may bezero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. Insome embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may comprise passive mixers,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured toup-convert input baseband signals 311 based on the synthesized frequency305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 304 to generate RF outputsignals 209 for the FEM circuitry 104. The baseband signals 311 may beprovided by the baseband processing circuitry 108 and may be filtered byfilter circuitry 312. The filter circuitry 312 may include a LPF or aBPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedown-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with the help ofsynthesizer 304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and themixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers each configuredfor image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may bearranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion,respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixercircuitry 314 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, althoughthis is not a requirement.

Mixer circuitry 302 may comprise, according to one embodiment:quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadraturephase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 207 from FIG. 3may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to besent to the baseband processor

Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety degreetime-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitrywhich may be configured to receive a LO frequency (f_(LO)) from a localoscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304(FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrierfrequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be afraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency,one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero andninety degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by thesynthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect.

In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (thepercentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset(the difference between start points of the period). In someembodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset.In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., thein-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 25% dutycycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

The RF input signal 207 (FIG. 2) may comprise a balanced signal,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-noseamplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 306 (FIG. 3) or to filtercircuitry 308 (FIG. 3).

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the inputbaseband signals 311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input basebandsignals 311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternateembodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for otherspectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments isnot limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a fractional-Nsynthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequencysynthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 304 maybe a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizercomprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According tosome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may include digitalsynthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizercircuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components,its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of ananalog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input intosynthesizer circuitry 304 may be provided by a voltage controlledoscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider controlinput may further be provided by either the baseband processingcircuitry 108 (FIG. 1) or the application processor 110 (FIG. 1)depending on the desired output frequency 305. In some embodiments, adivider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table(e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channelcenter frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor110.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 305, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a fraction of the carrierfrequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrierfrequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a LOfrequency (f_(LO)).

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processingcircuitry 400 in accordance with some embodiments. The basebandprocessing circuitry 400 is one example of circuitry that may besuitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1),although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. Thebaseband processing circuitry 400 may include a receive basebandprocessor (RX BBP) 402 for processing receive baseband signals 309provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1) and a transmit basebandprocessor (TX BBP) 404 for generating transmit baseband signals 311 forthe radio IC circuitry 106. The baseband processing circuitry 400 mayalso include control logic 406 for coordinating the operations of thebaseband processing circuitry 400.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchangedbetween the baseband processing circuitry 400 and the radio IC circuitry106), the baseband processing circuitry 400 may include ADC 410 toconvert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 106to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 402. In theseembodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include DAC412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 404 to analogbaseband signals.

In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, suchas through baseband processor 108 a, the transmit baseband processor 404may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate fortransmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). Thereceive baseband processor 402 may be configured to process receivedOFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments,the receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to detect thepresence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing anautocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and byperforming a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preamblesmay be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the antennas 101 (FIG. 1)may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas,including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patchantennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennassuitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectivelyseparated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the differentchannel characteristics that may result. Antennas 101 may each include aset of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

Although the radio-architecture 100 is illustrated as having severalseparate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements maybe combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless local area network (WLAN) in accordancewith some embodiments. The WLAN may comprise a basis service set (BSS)500 that may include a master station 502, which may be an access point(AP), a plurality of high-efficiency wireless (HEW) (e.g., IEEE802.11ax) STAs 504 and a plurality of legacy (e.g., IEEE 802.11n/ac)devices 506.

The master station 502 may be an AP using the IEEE 802.11 to transmitand receive. The master station 502 may be a base station. The masterstation 502 may use other communications protocols as well as the IEEE802.11 protocol. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may be IEEE 802.11ax. The IEEE802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple-access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/orcode division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol mayinclude a multiple access technique. For example, the IEEE 802.11protocol may include space-division multiple access (SDMA) and/ormultiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO). There may bemore than one master station 502 that is part of an extended service set(ESS). A controller may store information that is common to the morethan one master stations 502.

The legacy devices 506 may operate in accordance with one or more ofIEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj, or another legacy wirelesscommunication standard. The legacy devices 506 may be STAs or IEEE STAs.The HEW STAs 504 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such ascellular telephone, smart telephone, handheld wireless device, wirelessglasses, wireless watch, wireless personal device, tablet, or anotherdevice that may be transmitting and receiving using the IEEE 802.11protocol such as IEEE 802.11ax or another wireless protocol. In someembodiments, the HEW STAs 504 may be termed high efficiency (HE)stations.

The master station 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 inaccordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In exampleembodiments, the master station 502 may also be configured tocommunicate with HEW STAs 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques.

In some embodiments, a HEW frame may be configurable to have the samebandwidth as a subchannel. The bandwidth of a subchannel may be 20 MHz,40 MHz, or 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 320 MHz contiguous bandwidths or an 80+80MHz (160 MHz) non-contiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, thebandwidth of a subchannel may be 1 MHz, 1.25 MHz, 2.03 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5MHz and 10 MHz, or a combination thereof or another bandwidth that isless or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In someembodiments the bandwidth of the subchannels may be based on a number ofactive subcarriers. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the subchannelsare multiples of 26 (e.g., 26, 52, 504, etc.) active subcarriers ortones that are spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the bandwidth ofthe subchannels is 256 tones spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments thesubchannels are multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In someembodiments a 20 MHz subchannel may comprise 256 tones for a 256 pointFast Fourier Transform (FFT).

A HEW frame may be configured for transmitting a number of spatialstreams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO. In other embodiments,the master station 502, HEW STA 504, and/or legacy device 506 may alsoimplement different technologies such as code division multiple access(CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000 1×, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO),Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), InterimStandard 856 (IS-856), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System forMobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMAX)), BlueTooth®, or other technologies.

Some embodiments relate to HEW communications. In accordance with someIEEE 802.11ax embodiments, a master station 502 may operate as a masterstation which may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g.,during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the mediumfor an HEW control period. In some embodiments, the HEW control periodmay be termed a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The master station 502may transmit a HEW master-sync transmission, which may be a triggerframe or HEW control and schedule transmission, at the beginning of theHEW control period. The master station 502 may transmit a time durationof the TXOP and sub-channel information. During the HEW control period,HEW STAs 504 may communicate with the master station 502 in accordancewith a non-contention based multiple access technique such as OFDMA orMU-MIMO. This is unlike conventional WLAN communications in whichdevices communicate in accordance with a contention-based communicationtechnique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HEWcontrol period, the master station 502 may communicate with HEW stations504 using one or more HEW frames. During the HEW control period, the HEWSTAs 504 may operate on a sub-channel smaller than the operating rangeof the master station 502. During the HEW control period, legacystations refrain from communicating.

In accordance with some embodiments, during the master-sync transmissionthe HEW STAs 504 may contend for the wireless medium with the legacydevices 506 being excluded from contending for the wireless mediumduring the master-sync transmission. In some embodiments the triggerframe may indicate an uplink (UL) UL-MU-MIMO and/or UL OFDMA controlperiod.

In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HEWcontrol period may be a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is nota requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may bea time-division multiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency divisionmultiple access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multipleaccess technique may be a space-division multiple access (SDMA)technique.

The master station 502 may also communicate with legacy stations 506and/or HEW stations 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques. In some embodiments, the master station 502may also be configurable to communicate with HEW stations 504 outsidethe HEW control period in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

In example embodiments, the HEW device 504 and/or the master station 502are configured to perform the methods and functions herein described inconjunction with FIGS. 5-16.

Some embodiments may have the problem that a spatial reuse operation mayprevent an uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmissions due to therequirement of clear channel assessment (CCA) checking for a response toa trigger frame. FIG. 6 at 600 illustrates a station (STA) 502 not beingable to transmit due to an OBSS STA 630 and CCA checking 650 inaccordance with some embodiments. The AP 504 transmits a PHY header withBSS color 610 and Trigger Frame 620. STA 502 does not transmit due toCCA checking and due to OBSS STA 630 transmission 6460. This occurs asOBSS STA 630 notes indication of spatial reuse opportunity and ignoresthe packet 640.

In some embodiments, specific spatial reuse indications are used in thePHY header 610 such as HE PHY header to resolve the problem. In someembodiments, which may be in accordance with IEEE 802.11ax, spatialreuse operation may also be used in the MAC portion of the physicallayer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), e.g. PSDU.

In some embodiments, the STA determines whether the detected frame is aninter-BSS or an intra-BSS frame by using BSS color or the MAC address inthe MAC header. If the detected frame is an Inter-BSS frame, under someconditions, the STA uses an OBSS_PD level that is greater than theminimum receive sensitivity level.

FIG. 7 at 700 illustrates an intra-BSS station not transmitting due toCCA checking in accordance with some embodiments. When a trigger frame(TF) 725 is carried in non-HE format PPDU 710 such as non-HT PPDU, HTPPDU, or very high-throughput (VHT) PPDU, the TF may have a BSSidentification (BSSID) in the transmitter address (TA) field of the MACheader. In some embodiments, a similar problem may occur especially whenthe Trigger Frame 715 is aggregated with other MPDUs (exemplified as aMulti-STA block acknowledgement (BA) 720) with a BSSID in the sameaggregate (A)-MPDU 705. This transmission is shown at 730. In someembodiments Intra-BSS STAs 735, in response to Trigger Frame 725, maysend uplink multi-user transmissions 740. A-MPDU 730 including TriggerFrame 715 and BA 720 transmissions may follow. In response, Inter-BSSSTAs 750 may send a spatial reuse transmission 755 causing notransmissions due to CCA checking 745 by Intra-BSS STAs 735.

FIG. 8 illustrates an intra-BSS station not transmitting due to CCAchecking in accordance with some embodiments. When a Trigger Frame (TF)825 is carried in non-HE format PPDU 810 such as non-HT PPDU, HT PPDU,or very high-throughput (VHT) PPDU, the Trigger Frame may have a BSSidentification (BSSID) in the transmitter address (TA) field of the MACheader. In some embodiments, a similar problem may occur especially whenthe Trigger Frame 815 is aggregated with other MPDUs (exemplified as aMulti-STA block acknowledgement (BA) 820) with a BSSID in the sameaggregate (A)-MPDU 805. This transmission is shown at 830 and it isnoted that in FIG. 8, the Multi-STA BA 815 and Transmitter Frame 820 areaggregated such that the Multi-STA BA 815 is the first frame in A-MPDU805 and Trigger Frame 820 is in the second frame. In some embodiments,Intra-BSS STAs 835 in response to Trigger Frame 825 may send uplinkmulti-user transmissions 840. A-MPDU 830 including Trigger Frame 815 andBA 820 transmissions may follow. In response, Inter-BSS STAs 850,identifying OBSS BA frames 860, may send a spatial reuse transmission855 causing no transmissions due to CCA checking 845 by Intra-BSS STAs835.

In some embodiments, there may also be a need for the transmitter todisable spatial reuse operation in the MAC portion of the PPDU, i.e.,PSDU. For example, to disallow spatial reuse transmission on top ofspatial reuse transmission or to protect current transmissions. Someembodiments herein may define specific rules to aggregate trigger framesin A-MPDU 805. For example, Trigger Frame 820 shall be the first framein an A-MPDU 805 to avoid the case in FIG. 8 when there is no signalingin block acknowledgement (BA) 815. Some embodiments define specificspatial reuse restrictions. Some embodiments may not be required to haverestrictions to accommodate a Trigger Frame carried in non-HE PPDU forthe spatial reuse operation.

FIG. 9 illustrates the transmission opportunity illustrated in FIGS. 6-8without an interfering spatial reuse operation in accordance with someembodiments. This may be enabled by signaling in the MAC header thatprovides further indications or restrictions for spatial reuse. Thefurther indication or restrictions may include disallowing spatialreuse. In some embodiments, AP 905 may transmit TF 915 and in response,Intra-BSS STAs 910 may send uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmission bytriggered STAs. AP 905 may transmit BA+TF at 905 and in responseIntra-BSS STAs may send uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmission bytriggered STAs. AP 905 sends BA in response at 935.

In some embodiments there are indications in the MAC portion of the PPDUto indicate spatial reuse restrictions. This indication is useful whenthe PHY header does not have signaling to enable spatial reuse operationsuch as BSS color.

In some embodiments, one or more of the following may be used forsignaling in the MAC portion of the PPDU to enable the indication. Anembodiment herein may provide explicit signaling. In the commoninformation of the Trigger Frame, specific bits may be used to indicatespatial reuse restriction. Common information of a Trigger Frame mayinclude other spatial reuse information indicated in an HE-SIG-A such asone or more of the following: BSSID; margin for spatial reuseindication; CCA for spatial reuse indication; and, margin+transmit (TX)transmission power for spatial reuse indication.

An embodiment may provide specific control signaling be defined to carrythe indication of spatial reuse restriction. In some embodiments, thereis an HE variant of an HT control defined to carry control signaling.Some embodiments may define spatial reuse control signaling in an HEvariant of an HT control to indicate spatial reuse restriction. Spatialreuse control signaling may be carried with a frame such as TriggerFrame in the same MPDU or in a separate MPDU as illustrated in FIG. 10.Spatial reuse control signaling may be carried with data frame/controlframe/management frame for general spatial reuse purposes. The controlsignaling may be in a different MPDU, such as control/management/dataframe from the TF as illustrated in FIG. 10, which illustrate non-HE PHYheader without BSS color 1015 followed by MAC protocol data unit (MPDU)1010 and TF with control signaling, shown generally as 1020. A non-HEPHY header without BSS color 1030 may be followed by A-MPDU 1025, whichmay aggregate control signaling 1035 and Trigger Frame 1040.

Spatial reuse control signaling may have other spatial reuse relatedinformation indicated in an HE-SIG-A, such as: BSSID; margin for spatialreuse indication; CCA for spatial reuse indication; and, margin+TXtransmission power for spatial reuse indication.

For explicit signaling, several bits may be allocated for the signalingand several values for the allocated bits will be used for thesignaling. An embodiment herein may also use implicit signaling. Whenthe trigger frame is decoded, a specific spatial reuse restrictiondefined in a specification may be applied. This may only enable anindication for the restriction rather than multiple restrictions. Inthis embodiment, for every non-HE format PPDU, such as non-HT PPDU, HTPPDU, and VHT PPDU, spatial reuse is disallowed.

The indication of a spatial reuse restriction may include one or more ofthe following:

Option 1—spatial reuse operation is allowed at least after the end ofthe frame: (a) Additional inter-frame space (IFS) after the PPDU may beadded for the requirement; (b) The duration of the HE PHY header for theresponse frame may be added as well; and, (c) The requirement may be metby letting the STA defer for the required duration before startingspatial reuse transmission.

Option 2—spatial reuse operation is limited by the duration of thecurrent PPDU: (a) specifically, spatial reuse transmission may endbefore the end of the current PPDU; (b) This may be useful forprotection of the possible following ACK transmission; (c) This may notbe useful to prevent the problem of a Trigger Frame since Trigger Frameis short and is not generally integrated with other data in non-HE MUformat (or DL MU format).

Option 3—spatial reuse operation is not limited. Specifically, specialreuse transmission may not end before the end of the current PPDU.

Option 4—spatial reuse operation is not allowed. The signaling may beuseful for other scenarios.

There may be conditions to set the restrictions such as disallow spatialreuse. A specific indication may only be set under conditions, inaccordance with some embodiments. For example, spatial reuse restrictionof option 1 and option 2 may be allowed only if a Trigger Frame iscarried with the PPDU. For example, spatial reuse restriction of option4 is allowed only if a spatial reuse transmission is on top of otherspatial reuse transmissions.

Based on the signaling chosen for some embodiments, additional rules mayneed to be defined by one or more of the following: (1) a Trigger Framemay be the first MPDU in the aggregated A-MPDU; this may be useful whenthe signaling is only carried in the MPDU with a Trigger Frame andresolves the problem illustrated in FIG. 8; (2) a Trigger Frame shallnot be aggregated in a A-MPDU with more than two MPDUs when the A-MPDUis not transmitted in a DL MU format; in some embodiments, if thesignaling is only in the Trigger Frame, the Trigger Frame is the firstMPDU. When the Inter-BSS STAs miss the Trigger Frame, they will decodethe second MPDU, and spatial reuse operation cannot be applied before ULresponse to trigger frame.

In some embodiments, if the transmitter is going to have spatial reusesignaling in the PSDU, the spatial reuse signaling may be included inthe first MPDU in the aggregated A-MPDU. If not, the Inter-BSS STAs maydecode the first MPDU in the A-MPDU and ignore the following MPDUs withspatial reuse signaling. This can be applied when the signalingindicates spatial restrictions.

If the transmitter is going to have spatial reuse signaling in the MPDUof a PSDU, the spatial reuse signaling may be included in every MPDU inthe aggregated A-MPDU. This can be applied when the signaling indicatesspatial restrictions. Some embodiments prevent the error case that otherSTAs cannot decode the MPDU with spatial reuse signaling. Exceptions maybe added for the last MPDU in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a format for a trigger frame in accordance with someembodiments. The trigger frame may include frame control 1105, duration1110, receiver address (RA) 1115, transmitter address (TA) 1120, commoninfo 1125, per user info 1 1130, per user info 1 1135 and FCS 1140.

FIG. 12 shown generally as 1200, illustrates the format of an HT ControlField 1205 with HE variant of high-throughput (HT) control in accordancewith some embodiments. The variants may include HT variant 1210, VHTvariant 1215 and HE variant 1220.

FIG. 13 at 1300 illustrates a control subfield of the HE variant HTcontrol field 1305 in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 14 at 1400illustrates a control subfield format 1410 with Control ID 1420 andControl Information 1430 in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 1500 uponwhich any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussedherein may perform. The machine 1500 may incorporate all or some of theradio architecture illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. In alternative embodiments,the machine 1500 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected(e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, themachine 1500 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a clientmachine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example,the machine 1500 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (orother distributed) network environment. The machine 1500 may be a masterstation 502, HEW station 504, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, aset-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobiletelephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch orbridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloudcomputing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer clusterconfigurations.

Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. In an example, thesoftware may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

Machine (e.g., computer system) 1500 may include a hardware processor1502 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 1504 and a static memory 1506, some or all of which maycommunicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 1508. Themachine 1500 may further include a display unit 1510, an alphanumericinput device 1512 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI)navigation device 1514 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit1510, input device 1512 and UI navigation device 1514 may be a touchscreen display. The machine 1500 may additionally include a storagedevice (e.g., drive unit) 1516, a signal generation device 1518 (e.g., aspeaker), a network interface device 1520, and one or more sensors 1521,such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass,accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 1500 may include an outputcontroller 1528, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB),parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared(IR), near fieldcommunication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one ormore peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). In someembodiments the processor 1502 and/or instructions 1524 may compriseprocessing circuitry.

The storage device 1516 may include a machine readable medium 1522 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 1524(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 1524 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1504,within static memory 1506, or within the hardware processor 1502 duringexecution thereof by the machine 1500. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 1502, the main memory 1504, thestatic memory 1506, or the storage device 1516 may constitute machinereadable media.

While the machine readable medium 1522 is illustrated as a singlemedium, the term “machine readable medium” may include a single mediumor multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 1524.

FIG. 16 at 1600 illustrates a method in accordance with someembodiments. At 1610 an embodiment may encode a physical layerconvergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmissionto stations operable in the BSS. The PPDU may comprise a media accesscontrol (MAC) header portion. In some embodiments at 1620, an embodimentmay encode signaling in the MAC header portion of the PPDU thatindicates a spatial reuse restriction. The spatial reuse restrictionrestricts spatial reuse by stations operating in a BSS that is differentfrom the BSS of the AP. At 1630 an embodiment may configure the AP totransmit the PPDU.

The term “machine readable medium” may include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine 1500 and that cause the machine 1500 to perform any one ormore of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated withsuch instructions. Non-limiting machine readable medium examples mayinclude solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specificexamples of machine readable media may include: non-volatile memory,such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RandomAccess Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples,machine readable media may include non-transitory machine readablemedia. In some examples, machine readable media may include machinereadable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

The instructions 1524 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1526 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 1520 utilizing any one of a number of transferprotocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmissioncontrol protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 1520may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, orphone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communicationsnetwork 1526. In an example, the network interface device 1520 mayinclude a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at leastone of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO)techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 1520 maywirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term“transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions forexecution by the machine 1500, and includes digital or analogcommunications signals or other intangible medium to facilitatecommunication of such software.

In Example 1, an apparatus of an access point (AP), configurable tooperate in a basic service set (BSS). The apparatus may comprise memoryand processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitryconfigured to encode a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP)protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission to stations operable in theBSS, wherein the PPDU comprises a media access control (MAC) headerportion. The processing circuitry may further encode signaling in theMAC header portion of the PPDU that indicate a spatial reuserestriction, wherein the spatial reuse restriction restricts spatialreuse by stations operating in a BSS that is different from the BSS ofthe AP, and configure the AP to transmit the PPDU.

In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1, further comprisingencoding the spatial reuse restriction in an HE-A control field of theMAC header portion.

In Example 3, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-2, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes arestriction that for every non-HE format PPDU, spatial reuse isdisallowed.

In Example 4, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-3, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes animplicit signal wherein a specific spatial reuse restriction is definedin a specification.

In Example 5, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-4, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes a spatialreuse operation is allowed at least after the end of the PPDU and is notallowed during the duration of the PPDU.

In Example 6, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-5, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes thespatial reuse operation is limited by a duration of the current PPDU.

In Example 7, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-6, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes spatialreuse operation is not limited.

In Example 8, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-7, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes spatialreuse operation is not allowed.

In Example 9, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction iscarried in an MPDU if a PPDU that carries the MPDU includes a TriggerFrame (TF).

In Example 10, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured toencode restrictions on aggregating the TF with another MPDU.

In Example 11, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-10, wherein the restrictions on the A-MPDU aggregation are the TF be afirst frame in the A-MPDU.

In Example 12, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-11, wherein the processing circuitry encodes spatial reuse signalingin every MPDU in the A-MPDU.

In Example 13, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-12, wherein the signaling in the MAC header is explicit signaling withspecific bits in a common information (Common Info) Field of the TF toindicate the restrictions on spatial reuse.

In Example 14, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-13, wherein the Common Info Field of the TF is in a HE-SIG-A framethat comprises one or more of the following group: a basic service set(BSS) identification (ID) (BSSID) of a BSS of the access point; a marginfor spatial reuse; a clear channel assessment for spatial reuseindication; and, an indication of a transmit power for spatial reuse.

In Example 15, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-14, wherein the spatial reuse restriction in the HE-A control field ofthe MAC header portion comprises one or more of the following group: abasic service set (BSS) identification (ID) (BSSID) of a BSS of theaccess point; a margin for spatial reuse; a clear channel assessment forspatial reuse indication; and, an indication of a transmit power forspatial reuse.

In Example 16, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-15, wherein the restrictions on spatial reuse comprises one or more ofthe following group: spatial reuse operation is allowed after an end ofthe PPDU; spatial reuse operation is limited by the duration of thePPDU; spatial reuse operation is not limited; and spatial reuseoperation is not allowed.

In Example 17, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-16, wherein the access point is one from the following group: anInstitute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax AP andan IEEE 802.11 AP.

In Example 18, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-17, wherein the processing circuitry includes a baseband processor toencode the non-HE PPDU.

In Example 19, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-18, further comprising one or more antennas coupled to the processingcircuitry.

In Example 20, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatstores instructions for execution by one or more processors to performoperations by an access point (AP) to communicate in a basic service set(BSS). The operations to configure the one or more processors to encodea physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU)for transmission to stations operable in the BSS, wherein the PPDUcomprises a media access control (MAC) header portion. The operationsfurther may configure the one or more processors to encode signaling inthe MAC header portion of the PPDU that indicate a spatial reuserestriction, wherein the spatial reuse restriction restricts spatialreuse by stations operating in a BSS that is different from the BSS ofthe AP, and configure the AP to transmit the PPDU.

In Example 21, the subject matter of Example 20, wherein theinstructions further configure the processor to encode the spatial reuserestriction in an HE-A control field of the MAC header portion.

In Example 22, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-21, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes arestriction that is selected from one or more of the following group: animplicit signal wherein a specific spatial reuse restriction is definedin a specification; the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes aspatial reuse operation is allowed at least after the end of a frame;the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes the spatial reuseoperation is limited by a duration of a current PPDU; the signal forspatial reuse restriction includes spatial reuse operation is notlimited; and the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes spatialreuse operation is not allowed.

In Example 23, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-22, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction is carried in anMPDU if a PPDU that carries the MPDU includes a Trigger Frame (TF).

In Example 24, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-21, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to encoderestrictions on aggregating the TF with another MPDU.

In Example 25, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-24, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to encodethe TF to be a first frame in an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

In Example 26, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-25, wherein the processing circuitry encodes spatial reuse signalingin every MPDU in the A-MPDU.

In Example 27, a method of communication by an access point (AP)operable in basic service set (BSS), comprising encoding a physicallayer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) fortransmission to stations operable in the BSS, wherein the PPDU comprisesa media access control (MAC) header portion. The method furthercomprises encoding signaling in the MAC header portion of the PPDU thatindicate a spatial reuse restriction, wherein the spatial reuserestriction restricts spatial reuse by stations operating in a BSS thatis different from the BSS of the AP, and configuring the AP to transmitthe PPDU.

In Example 28, the subject matter of claim 27, further comprisingencoding the spatial reuse restriction in an HE-A control field of theMAC header portion.

In Example 29, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-28, wherein the spatial reuse restriction includes a restriction thatis selected from one or more of the following group an implicit signalwherein a specific spatial reuse restriction is defined in aspecification; the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes aspatial reuse operation is allowed at least after the end of a frame;the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes the spatial reuseoperation is limited by a duration of a current PPDU; the signal forspatial reuse restriction includes spatial reuse operation is notlimited; the signal for spatial reuse restriction includes spatial reuseoperation is not allowed.

In Example 30, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-29, wherein the signal for spatial reuse restriction is carried in anMPDU if a PPDU that carries the MPDU includes a Trigger Frame (TF).

In Example 31, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-30, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to encoderestrictions on aggregating the TF with another MPDU.

In Example 32, an apparatus of station (STA), operable in an overlappingbasic service set (OBSS) of a basic service set (BSS) of an access point(AP), the apparatus comprising memory and processing circuitry coupledto the memory, the processing circuitry configured to decode a physicallayer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU)transmission from the AP, wherein the PPDU comprises a media accesscontrol (MAC) header portion. The processing circuitry may further beconfigured to decode signaling in the MAC header portion of the PPDUthat indicate a spatial reuse restriction, wherein the spatial reuserestriction restricts spatial reuse by stations operating in a BSS thatis different from the BSS of the AP, and configure the STA to operateaccording to the restrictions on spatial reuse.

In Example 33, the subject matter of Example 32, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to decode the spatial reuse restrictionfrom the HE-A control field of the MAC header portion.

In Example 34, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-33, wherein the restrictions on spatial reuse comprises one or more ofthe following group: spatial reuse operation is allowed after an end ofthe non HE PPDU; spatial reuse operation is limited by a duration of thenon-HE PPDU; spatial reuse operation is not limited; and spatial reuseoperation is not allowed.

In Example 35, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-34, wherein the processing circuitry includes a baseband processor todecode the PPDU.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) accesspoint (AP), the apparatus configured to operate in a basic service set(BSS), and the apparatus comprising: memory; and, processing circuitrycoupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to: encode aphysical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU),the PPDU comprising a media access control (MAC) portion, the MACportion comprising a trigger frame; encode the trigger frame to indicatea spatial reuse restriction, wherein the spatial reuse restrictionindicates a restriction on spatial reuse transmissions by inter-BSS HEstations, wherein if the spatial reuse restriction indicates thatspatial reuse is allowed, the spatial reuse restriction indicates avalue corresponding to a transmission power threshold of spatial reusetransmissions by the inter-BSS HE stations; and generate signaling tocause the HE AP to transmit the PPDU.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode thePPDU to further comprise a first aggregated MAC protocol data unit(A-MPDU) comprising the trigger frame and a second A-MPDU comprisinganother frame.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: encode the PPDU to comprise a HEsignal A (HE-SIG-A) field, the HE-SIG-A field comprising a color fieldindicating the color of the BSS the RE AP is configured to operate in.4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: encode the HE-SIG-A field to comprise an indication thatthe spatial reuse transmissions by the HE stations operating in theinter-BSS are limited to a duration of the transmission of the PPDU. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: encode the trigger frame to identify HE STAs operating inthe BSS to participate in uplink (UL) multiple user (MU) transmissions.6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: encode the trigger frame to comprise a resource unit foreach HE STA identified in the trigger frame.
 7. The apparatus of claim5, wherein the trigger frame comprises a common information field and aplurality of fields that identify the HE STAs operating in the BSS, andwherein the common information field indicates spatial reuserestriction.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: encode the PPDU as one of thefollowing group: a HE MU PPDU, a non-high-throughput (HT) PPDU, a HTPPDU, and a VHT PPDU.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to: encode the PPDU as one ofthe non-HT, the HT PPDU, or the VHT PPDU to indicate that spatial reuseis disallowed during the transmission of the PPDU.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:encode the PPDU to comprise a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, the HE-SIG-Afield comprising a second spatial reuse restriction, wherein the secondspatial reuse restriction restricts spatial reuse by the inter-BSS HEstations, wherein the second spatial reuse restriction indicates whetherspatial reuse is allowed during the transmission of the PPDU.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: encode the spatial reuse restriction to indicate thatspatial reuse is disallowed during the transmission of the PPDU and aninter-frame space (IFS) after the transmission of the PPDU.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a direct conversion mixer, thedirect conversion mixer configured to directly downconvertradio-frequency (RF) signals to baseband signals, wherein the processingcircuitry is configured to decode the baseband signals, the basebandsignals including the PPDU.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a super-heterodyne mixer, the super-heterodyne mixerconfigured to downconvert radio-frequency (RF) signals to intermediatefrequency signals prior to generation of baseband signals, wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to decode the baseband signals, thebaseband signals including the PPDU.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processingcircuitry, the transceiver circuitry coupled to two or more patchantennas for receiving signalling in accordance with a multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) technique.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry,the transceiver circuitry coupled to two or more microstrip antennas forreceiving signalling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) technique.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RE AP isconfigured to operate in accordance with at least one from the followinggroup: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11axand IEEE 802.11.
 17. A method performed by an apparatus of ahigh-efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the apparatus configured tooperate in a basic service set (BSS), the method comprising: encoding aphysical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU),the PPDU comprising a media access control (MAC) portion, the MACportion comprising a trigger frame; encoding the trigger frame toindicate a spatial reuse restriction, wherein the spatial reuserestriction indicates a restriction on spatial reuse transmissions byinter-BSS HE stations, wherein if the spatial reuse restrictionindicates that spatial reuse is allowed, the spatial reuse restrictionindicates a value corresponding to a transmission power threshold ofspatial reuse transmissions by the inter-BSS HE stations; and generatingsignaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the PPDU.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, the method further comprising: encoding the PPDU to furthercomprise a first aggregated MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) comprisingthe trigger frame and a second A-MPDU comprising another frame.
 19. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructionsfor execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of ahigh-efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the apparatus configured tooperate in a basic service set (BSS) and the instructions to configurethe one or more processors to: encode a physical layer convergenceprocedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), the PPDU comprising a mediaaccess control (MAC) portion, the MAC portion comprising a triggerframe; encode the trigger frame to indicate a spatial reuse restriction,wherein the spatial reuse restriction indicates a restriction on spatialreuse transmissions by inter-BSS HE stations, wherein if the spatialreuse restriction indicates that spatial reuse is allowed, the spatialreuse restriction indicates a value corresponding to a transmissionpower threshold of spatial reuse transmissions by the inter-BSS HEstations; and generate signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit thePPDU.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim19, wherein the instructions further configure the one or moreprocessors to: encode the PPDU to further comprise a first aggregatedMAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) comprising the trigger frame and asecond A-MPDU comprising another frame.